Hypno Toad

Anybody using these? Looks interesting.


My daughter lives car-free in the Minneapolis and has had wheels stolen (sucks). This looks like a clean easy way to secure her wheels.

fietsbob

There already was another Skewer that locked until the bike was turned Upside down.

Out of a French company..

Pit Lock works and wont open even if Upside down .. but dont lose the Pit-Key..

Maelochs

Whatever. Everyone I know locks both wheels as a matter of course, so i don't need these products. Further, anyone who rides regularly, particularly in an urban setting, probably has to change a tube now and then, and with this system I would need to carry a pedal wrench.

Also, the system depends completely upon the thief not being able to flip the bike. If the thief can destroy the rear wheel (cut the spokes with the same really big set of cutters he would use to cut the cable on my front wheel) he can flip the bike, remove the rear wheel, and steal the whole bike less the ruined rear wheel.

Or he can cut or break the U-lock and steal the bike and change the skewers at his leisure.

I can see the appeal---carry just a U-lock, and never heed to remove the front wheel, line it up with the back wheel, and lock both to the frame and rack. For people now using that system, great. For people using a separate cable, no need to carry the separate cable. For people who always lock their bikes to a rack where a U-lock is all that is needed, this could be a convenience.

If I am to understand correctly that Both her wheels were stolen, then she didn't lock her bike properly. If she had used a U-lock through rear wheel and frame, only the front wheel would have been available. if she used a cable to lock the bike to something and didn't run it through the wheels ... Hey, it Always sucks to get robbed. I sympathize.

I have to think that a thief would steal wheels only if that was the easiest thing to steal ... if the bike was locked and the wheels weren't. Maybe this would have helped ... but ...

U-Locks work in a very limited range of locations. cables or chains workl in a lot m,ore situations but are bulky and heavy and except for the biggest/most cumbersome, are still defeatable easily. For serious thieves, Any security system can be beaten, and most pretty quickly.

I don't see this as being a big step forward ... but possibly there are enough people who commute in areas with a high degree of impulse/casual theft like a college campus, where those people also don't want to mess with anything mechanical (like taking of a QR front wheel), who would find this useful.

Very limited application ... but hey, if it sells, it sells.

"Call before midnight tonight .... "

Hypno Toad

I've seen skewer style, the solid axle got my attention, the kid's bike don't have QR wheels.

Hypno Toad

Only one wheel was stolen at one time, she typically has the U-lock through the frame and front wheel. A-hole took the rear wheel.

Any security system can be beaten, I have no illusion. However, for a low price ($35 - $50 I think) and little effort, it should make it harder to steal a wheel from a locked bike and makes it so she can use a compact U-lock, easier to carry and harder to defeat.

This is a very simple bike - SS Schwinn Traveler. It's a city bike that she can easily lock up at work, the bar, the store, etc. Having spent years removing my front wheel to lock it with the frame and rear wheel (and taking the saddle with me), I can't blame anybody for looking for an easier, yet safe, way to lock up.

Talking with the LBS when getting a new wheel for her, the mechanic said somebody was in the week prior with a stolen stem.... WTF!?! Thieves are D-bags and they will steal anything, sometimes just to eff with a person.

Maelochs

She sounds like the target customer.

fietsbob

Pit Lock has axle Nuts too

Hypno Toad

She has my 1980 Schwinn :

J.C. Koto

Interesting idea but I'd probably have a nagging worry that the locking pin would somehow get stuck in the locked position due to dirt/grit, ice, or what-have-you and I wouldn't be able to remove my own wheel.

corrado33

I wonder how big the pin is. I doubt it'd be very hard to break it with an 18 inch breaker bar. (For solid axle bikes.)

Maelochs

yeah, this is an anti-casual theft deal. A serious thief wouldn't mess with the wheels and would just grind through the U-lock and ride off, or throw in his van with the other stolen bikes.